


A second chance

by Spider_Aye



Category: Until Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Gen, I mean it'll be fluff at some point, Wendigo!Hannah - Freeform, Wendigo!Josh, wenigo
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-21
Updated: 2019-10-12
Packaged: 2020-09-23 12:10:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 16,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20339893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spider_Aye/pseuds/Spider_Aye
Summary: Everyone survived the night and somehow got back... everyone but Josh, he was left in the mines to turn into a Wendigo. Seems like things will not change and time passes on the mountain... until one person decides to revisit it and accidentally finds the one they believed was gone forever. And therefore, a second chance comes for everyone to repair what they once broke on the mountain.





	1. Dark and cold

Cold. Yeah, cold. It was so cold. The coldness was somehow getting through all the layers Josh was wearing only to send unsettling shivers down his spine. That, and the pain were the only things keeping the boy from falling asleep right where he was standing. His wrists were still hurt from the way the Wendigo yanked him away from the pole he was tied to back in the shed, he could taste blood in his mouth, and his back was still sore after he was dragged through the forest and thrown down into the mine.

Right next to him, a terrifying creature curled up while still glancing over him with its milky eyes. It was tall, pale, had claws, long and sharp fangs, no hair, and all of its bones were visible. Yet, a dark-inked tattoo on its right hand was enough to make Josh comfortable around it. No matter how hard he’d try to deny it, he still could feel deep inside that it was his dear sister, Hannah. Turned into a monster, sure, but it was not a mindless and heartless creature, no. As soon as he recognized her, she recognized him as well and she dragged him here instead of killing him.

Hannah was hurt, he could tell that. She was shaking, some parts of her skin were burned up to the point when you could see red lines all over the wounds. Josh felt bad for her, he thought he was failing his sister again, he didn’t know what to do to help her. All of the attempts to touch her in order to comfort her were getting a response of hissing so far, letting him know that this was not what Hannah needed.

When Hannah’s milky eyes closed and she drifted away to some state similar to sleeping, Josh decided to go seek help for her. He quietly got up and, struggling to catch his balance, he slowly made his way to the underground lake he met Hannah in. He needed to find a way out of the cave so he could get some help for Hannah. That was all he could think of until he saw a figure standing in the ice-cold water, staring at him blankly.

“B- Beth?” he choked out. Only then did it hit him, she couldn’t be here. Not  _ really.  _ “G- go away, you’re- you’re not real!” he cried out, covering his eyes and accidentally digging his hands into them too hard, causing him to hiss in pain.

“Josh, please, I need help…” his sister pleaded.

“Stop it! Stop it! You’re  _ not  _ real!” he kept on shouting as if it were to make her disappear. She didn’t even flinch.

“Josh, help me… Why do you hate me?” the girl asked. Josh flinched, uncovering his eyes and staring at her, his surprise and disbelief mixing up with pure terror. 

“H- hate? N- no, I don’t- Beth, I-” the boy tried to explain, but was struggling to find the right words. How could he even explain that he didn’t hate her? She was his sister, for crying out loud, he could not hate her!

“You let me die. You let Hannah suffer. You hate us.” Beth accused. Josh desperately dug his fingers into his hair, shaking his head.

“No, no, no, I- Beth, I-” the boy felt his eyes fill with tears. He didn’t even try to tell himself she wasn’t real anymore, even though she had admitted to dying.

“Why can’t you help me, Josh? Why do you want to hurt me more? Why do you keep hurting others?” Beth kept asking, all of the questions making him lose his grip on reality. She was right.

“H- how can- can I h- help you, B- Beth? J- just te- tell me!” Josh cried, struggling to form actual words.

“Follow me.” the girl answered, moving away. Her movement didn’t cause any waves in the water, which should’ve unsettled Josh, but he was too lost to realize.

Without second-guessing, the boy jumped into the water, getting his costume wet all over again. The water was freezing cold, making his insides twist and stopping him from breathing at first. He picked his hands up in order to keep his balance and to keep them dry before pushing on, trying to catch up to his sister.

“B- bet- Beth, w- wait-t!” he called out, now struggling to talk not only because of what she said but also the cold. The girl didn’t slow down, though.

“I’m counting on you, Josh. Help me. Save me. Can you do that now?” she tilted her head, making Josh speed up. Of course he could, he wouldn’t let anything happen to her again!

In the middle of the lake, he lost the figure and he could no longer hear her voice. He panicked, calling out to her a couple of times. He thought he saw her shadow several times, but they were always proven to be stones or cracks in the wall. Eventually, he saw her, but she was no longer as healthy as she appeared. Her once soft skin was now all gray, full of scratches, and painfully realistic. Her beautiful hair was almost completely gone, and what was left was dirty, grey, and visibly soaked in blood. So were her clothes and a couple of places on her face. Her lips were dark, destroyed, dry, and they revealed her destroyed, dirty teeth. She lost so much weight as if she was starving for  _ days _ . It wasn’t as much as the wendigos that Josh had seen so far, but still way past humanly limits. With a surprisingly clear voice, she spoke as her whole body was shaking.

“You’ve failed me, Josh. I trusted you,” she whispered as the darkness around her was slowly consuming her small, hurt body.

“N- no, B- Beth, w-wait! I- wh- what did I do- do wrong?!” Josh asked as he tried to push his way to her, using his hands, now soaked, to speed the process up.

Suddenly, there was a growl coming from the stone ceiling, causing Josh to look up. There he saw another wendigo, just like Hannah, but with no burns or tattoos. He froze up. Now  _ this  _ one couldn’t be real. The thing jumped down into the water and started to look around, obviously searching for Josh. But as it was coming closer, the thought that it wasn’t really here was getting louder.

“You’re  **not** real!” Josh shouted, waving his hands around in order to chase away the imaginary monster.

The thing screeched at him and tried to slash him with its claws, missing him only by a couple of inches. That’s when Josh realized that  _ this  _ thing, in particular, was as real as things could get. He finally lost his balance and fell under the water, not even taking a breath while he still could. He tried to half-swim-half-walk away while the thing was distracted by all the splashing he was making and soon enough he got to a corner of the lake, able to get out of the water. He ran out and, stumbling over his own legs, he made his way away, pure terror on his face as he heard the monster jump out of the water.

Before the male could realize, he stumbled across a deep drop that seemed to come out of nowhere. Before he could stop, he fell over the edge and rolled down, hurting his left shoulder really badly and knocking himself out cold from the impact. A good thing, turns out, because the wendigo after him didn’t know where he landed, struggling to find him now. The thing gave up, believing that Josh hid somewhere, about 20 minutes later.

When he woke up, he was even colder than before, his whole body still soaking wet and filled by pain. To his horror he realized his arm was weirdly twisted, making it impossible to climb up. Yet, he tried over and over, causing himself more damage and pain. He wasn’t sure how long he’s been out, he wanted to go to Hannah, to check up on her. When he slipped for the hundredth time, he felt a terrible pain in his right leg, making it impossible for him to sand up.

“You’ve killed me,” Beth’s voice echoed through his head.

“You’ve let us suffer,” added Hannah’s voice, both girls appearing to be standing right next to their hurt brother.

“N- no, I-” he tried to mumble an apology and explanation, but the words were stuck in his throat.

“You’ve failed,” Hannah accused him.

“You killed everyone,” Beth blamed.

“Your sisters…” Hannah started. No, no, he didn’t want this! It wasn’t his fault they died! He always loved them, he always wanted to protect them… why would he kill them?!

“...your friends…” Beth added up. That’s what Mike said. Mike said he killed Jessica. He didn’t recall it, but what if it happened? What if it really did? Did he really forget that?!

“ _ ...yourself. _ ” the girls accused together. He did. He really did. There was no way for him to get out. No one was coming to get him, no one cared. He really did push everyone away, they wouldn’t come.

“You’re sick! You’re a psychopath!” accusing voice of his old psychiatrist, Dr. Hill, came to his ears.

“No, no, no…” Josh mumbled, rocking back and forth, trying to cover his ears.

“You’re a killer!” Beth accused.

“You’re a failure!” Hannah added up.

“You’re insane!” Dr. Hill shouted.

Josh couldn’t help but scream. He screamed to numb the voices, numb the pain, to make his lungs and throat hurt so bad that his brain would refuse to use them. It gave no effect, the three figures still accusing him of all the thing he  _ did.  _ All the things he  _ was _ . Tears rolled down his cheeks, making the small wound on his right side of face sting. Why wouldn’t they go quiet?! Why wouldn’t they stop accusing him?! Why wouldn’t they just leave?!

A shaking, gentle touch on his arm snapped him out, his head shooting up to find the milky eyes of his sister. She found him. She really did. He wasn’t alone, she was still in there, caring about him, afraid of hurting him… she was there for him. Without hesitation, he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into a hug he needed so badly.

Hannah didn’t hurt him when he did, she let him do it despite her burned up skin. She didn’t know why, it just happened. She felt the urge to protect her brother, not hurt him. But could she?

Josh was not getting better, his wounds needing real medication,  _ any  _ medication. He was starving, he was thirsty, he was cold, he was terrified, he kept seeing and hearing things, and the only thing offering him any comfort was a monster that once used to be his younger sister. Hannah was bringing him food every once in a while, raw meat mostly, but it was better than starving to death in Josh’s eyes. Until one day she didn’t.

She didn’t come to meet her brother at all, leaving him exhausted, hungry, but mostly worried. What if he failed her? If she got in trouble and needed his help? But he couldn’t help her because he was stuck? What if she was hurt and couldn’t get food herself? If she was starving to death  _ again _ ? The accusing voices in his head weren’t comforting him at all.

She did come, eventually, but it took her two days. Josh was on the edge of death, starvation turning out even more painful than he thought it’d be. He was struggling to move or even see, so Hannah placed the food in his hand and helped him to put it closer to his mouth. He took a bite out of it, quickly realizing it was some raw meat again. Yet, there was something weird about the way it tasted. He didn’t think he ever ate it before. Only after eating the most of it and thanking his sister, he moved closer to a flashlight he had found down there to shine some light at the meat. His heart stopped and his stomach twisted.

“W- what have I done?” he mumbled to himself in disbelief.

It wasn’t a rabbit, nor a squirrel, nor a deer, nor an elk, nor a bird, nor a  _ bear _ , not even a wolf… it was a human leg. How could he not realize?! He ate a  _ human _ . He didn’t mean to! He didn’t know! But it was too late to spit it out. He brushed the tear that formed in his eye upon seeing someone who must’ve been murdered by his sister and rested his back against the cold wall. He sighed, trying to control his panic before the voices would come to shame him more. He started assuring himself that no one would ever know, that it wouldn’t matter, that it wouldn’t change him…

A couple of days since he ate the leg and all left of it were bones. Hannah didn’t show up since she gave it to him and he was still starving. Well, at least he wasn’t in pain or cold anymore. He couldn’t quite explain that, but one day all his needs disappeared, only hunger staying behind to taunt him. He was also realizing that something was starting to change about him. He could’ve sworn that his fingers were longer, his teeth sharper, his skin paler… and he felt like he grew even taller. He was somewhat happy with another change, the voices seemed to finally leave him alone, appearing only once in a while and not saying such hurtful things. They were telling him he needed help now. He didn’t quite understand them, he was feeling  **great** , only the hunger being his issue! And to beat the hunger you only need to  _ eat _ .

A couple more days passed and Josh woke up in the middle of the night, all sweaty and shaking. He didn’t quite understand it, he didn’t have a nightmare, he wasn’t dreaming at all. There was no sound anywhere, so he kept wondering why was he up just like that. His eyes scanned his clothes and body only to spot a lot of changes in his appearance. He freaked out. He finally understood what was happening to him. He was looking more and more like Hannah, like one of the monsters. He didn’t want to. Was it too late to stop it?

“Hannah! Hannah!” he cried out. He wanted her to come, he didn’t see her in  _ days  _ and he needed to now more than ever. If he  _ will  _ turn, he needs her to be here.

He could feel how this weird, wild side within him was getting stronger. He needed to get to Hannah now. No matter what. He needed to get up and out of the hole. He was getting anxious. He was panicking. He didn’t feel pain, so he didn’t hesitate to stand up and press his hands against the wall to support himself. He somehow knew how to use his fingers, or maybe claws now, to get out. He dug them into the wall and managed to pull himself up. He somehow was back next to the underground lake within seconds, not even realizing how he made it out.

Josh felt the urge to go see himself. He stumbled to the lake using both his hands and legs and stopped on the edge, looking down into the water to meet a terrifying sight. His eyes were no longer green as they used to, they were now getting just as milky as Hannah’s were. His sharp fangs somehow dug through his left cheek slightly, making his mouth wider. He couldn’t deny, he was afraid of what he was seeing. He could hear his sisters saying they wanted to help him in the distance, but he just couldn’t move, staring at the reflection of his miserable face.

He could feel his body get weaker, he was feeling like he was about to pass out. His memories were flashing all around him, familiar faces and voices appearing and going away every now and then. Some were accusing him of the things he did, somewhere trying to comfort him, but he was no longer sure which one was doing what. He pressed his hands against his ears and grabbed his hair, trying to numb it all out. Yet the only things getting number each second were his mind and body. He was drifting away and what was left in his body was… something else.

And all his cries for help were left unanswered, no one really there to comfort him, just voices. Because no one cared. He pushed them all away and they hated him, he could feel it. So he will hate them too. He’ll forget them too. Because they left him when he needed help. He felt like he deserved it but still wasn’t about to forgive them. 

Cold. He was cold again. Cold, lost, and filled with regret. He failed everyone, he hurt everyone… he was cold and alone, that’s the way it was going be until the end of his life.


	2. A visitor

It was the middle of summer, exactly 6 months since… since that night when Wendigos turned out to be real. A rather tall, blond-haired male with glasses was walking through the forest, wearing a T-shirt covered with a light jacket, a pair of jeans, and a baseball cap, somehow not hot yet, looking around and _ trying _ to appreciate the wild nature there. He wasn’t afraid of wendigos coming to get him. Most of them, if not all, were dead, and the ones that weren’t? They wouldn’t attack him at day, they left the mines at night only.

Chris was better now, no longer so shaken up from the events that occurred that very night he thought he lost everyone. All the small scratches and bruises disappeared off his body, he was no longer having nightmares too recently, and his 6 friends were growing close again. Sure, the events were traumatizing, but they were really recovering. And it was an unspoken rule that they didn’t talk about that night, wendigos, and… and Josh anymore, as if all that needed to be said was said already. 

The last one was somewhat painful, the two used to be best friends since the third grade, they were really close and just like that, one night Josh was gone. First believed to be dead, then revealed to be sick, only to go “missing” in the woods, probably ending up like his sisters, dead. And Chris had no way of letting his feelings out, no way to vent about it to his friends. He had a small notebook he always kept with him to write it all down since that was really the only thing he could do without being stared at and muted by the others. It was a really sensitive topic.

Suddenly, he came across a small hole, presumably a rabbit one. He knelt next to it, surprised. He didn’t think there were any rabbits up there. He _did _hear people talking about them, but he didn’t really believe them until now. After looking over the hole, he realized it was somewhat bigger than he expected it to be. And the markings around it seemed to inform that some bigger animal tried to dig it open. Chris leaned over the hole trying to see something when his gaze came across something that looked like… blood? Before he understood what he was seeing, the terrible scent caught his nose, leaving him gagging on it and quickly stepping away. Not cool.

Out of nowhere, the ground under him was gone with a snap and he was falling. His back hit a wall as he was now rolling down it, gaining new cuts all over his body. His cap flew away and glasses were close to sliding down his nose. He crushed into a root and manage to catch it to prevent falling further. He was shocked and confused. His head shot up to see the hole he fell into. It was large and had broken sticks lying around it, only slightly visible. A trap. The root wasn’t strong enough to hold him up, quickly breaking and sending him on his further way down. Eventually, he hit the ground and couldn’t help but cry out in pain. Something was off with his leg. It was filled with pain so bad he wanted to scream for hours straight, but he overcame it slightly, clenching his teeth.

Chris tried to move away from the place he landed at, looking for some corner to hide. Only then did it hit him that he was in the mines. Where the wendigos were. He needed to stop moving. He needed to stay frozen, or they’d see him. He had to overcome the coldness all around him to stop his body from shaking. He was lucky to have his bonus jacket with him, it was at least a little bit warming.

It wasn’t long until he heard distant growling. So at least one Wendigo did survive the explosion. Chris knew what to do, he pressed himself into the wall and steadied his breath, knowing how scary the things looked sometimes. Skinny, pale monsters from his nightmares. Yet, when the Wendigo entered the cave part he was at, he wasn’t impressed. The thing was bigger than most, sure, but still wearing clothes and having hair. It still was dangerous, obviously, but he’ve definitively seen scarier. This one looked so humanlike it was unimaginable

There was something familiar about the creature, as if Chris saw it before. Which was weird, he didn’t recall seeing a Wendigo that was wearing actual clothes, or even with hair. The creature jumped at the spot he had fallen at, but he luckily moved before. It growled and, after making sure there wasn’t anything there, it started circling around, trying to get the pray to move. While walking, it passed Chris a couple of times but failed to see him. Only then did the light shine on it, revealing its looks better. Oh God.

It was Josh. Chris just knew it. But that’d mean that his best friend not only did survive for a while down there, but also ended up eating a _ human_? Chris didn’t believe it, Josh wouldn’t do that! Sure, he was a little messed up the night he went missing, but not _ that _much! Chris flinched at the thought of what his friend must’ve been through. And that was a mistake, moving at all. Not long after, Josh’s terrifying face was just inches from Chris’, sniffing for food. Chris broke through his fear only after realizing that it wouldn’t go away undistracted.

“J- Josh, it’s me-” he smiled at him softly reaching out.

He didn’t get to touch his friend, though. Another movement assured the Wendigo that there was something there, so it leaped on him, causing his head to hit the wall behind him and knocking him out. The creature then caught the passed out human and dragged him deeper into the mines, wanting to put him where most of his food went.

When Chris woke up, his head hurt real bad, but still not as much as his leg. He looked around and his blood went cold, realizing what was in the room he ended up in. Meat hooks, a lot of them. Sharp and bloodied, higher and lower, 15 to say at least. From most, there were bones hanging, but no piece of meat. Panicking, the male started looking around only to find the one he once used to call a friend eating something hanging from one hook. No long after he spotted it, the Wendigo threw all the bones to the ground and swiftly got over to Chris, grabbing him by the collar and dragging to the now-empty meat hook.

Chris was struggling to break free, realizing that his life was at stake, but it was nothing compared to Wendigo’s strength. Soon enough, the creature picked him up and slowly put his face closer to the hook, as if it wanted him to feel fear before death.

“Josh, please! We’re friends, bro! We are! Please, man, you’re better than that! Josh-” Chris pleaded, but soon was cut off by the tears forming in his eyes. He closed them, awaiting death.

When Chris didn’t feel any pain for half a minute, he opened his eyes again only to learn that his face was inches away from the hook, yet wasn’t moving closer. Overcoming his fear, he turned his head to see Josh. His friend seemed confused by his own hesitation, just glaring at Chris with his mouth slightly open, showing off his sharp fangs. Then, his milky eyes looked down, as if he was thinking, wondering.

“Josh? Bro, you hear me?” Chris asked, yet failing to catch Josh’s attention.

Josh felt weird. As if he did see the man before. Well, seeing was close to impossible with his eyes, but his voice was familiar. Maybe he had seen him too? Josh slowly moved the man away from the hook and put him on the ground, which seemed to cheer him up. He then walked over and pushed the man slightly, wanting to cause him to move more.

Surprisingly, the man immediately fell down and quickly caught his leg, hissing. Only when he was shaking from pain Josh could tell that his limb was weirdly twisted. Josh quickly figured it was the source of the man’s pain and soon got another weird feeling. This man was different. This man was not food, he was hurt. And for some reason, Josh felt required to help him. The man would get hungry soon, that’s for sure, and Josh just ate the last food in this room, leaving him no other choice than to go get meat somewhere else. He hated hunting in rush, he wasn't that good at this, but he usually was having at least one big piece of meat saved up in a couple of places, but this time the man was expected to be the meat in that part of the mines, meaning he'd have to go somewhere else to get it.

With a growl, Josh dashed out into the mines, quickly finding the place he used to store some meat in case he'd ever run out of it while in need. He hoped he'd find something there instead of hunting. Yet, it was empty. He decided not to give up and look through some other places. After passing many, many corridors, he finally came across one of his hiding-hanging spots only to find some meat that must’ve been there for weeks now. It wasn’t rotten, luckily, but it seemed a little hard.

Josh figured that it’d have to do for the man until night, when he could go out and actually hunt with some animals asleep. So he took the meat off the hook and quickly rushed through the mines to give the man the food. When he entered, the person was still sitting and shaking, covering his eyes with hands and… crying? Josh snuck over, tilting his head to the side while trying to figure out what was it up to. Maybe he was hungry so badly? The Wendigo placed the food next to the crying figure and backed up immediately, watching from distance.

Chris looked up hearing something run past him and quickly wiped his tears away. He wasn’t sure why was he even crying, but seeing Josh sit in front of him and watching him with milky eyes kind of cleared it out. All his emotions were mixing up after all. He was confused by the events, and scared by the fact that his friend was now a Wendigo, and happy to see Josh again, and proud of getting so far… And he was filled with so much hope! He did it, he found Josh, even though he wasn’t looking, and it was all that should matter.

Chris stared blankly as Josh clapped his fangs together, pretending to munch what was presumably food. Was that a threat or something? It didn’t feel like one? Only a moment later Chris saw Josh glancing down to where he now could see some meat. Obviously raw, but not just-skinned at least. Chris felt his insides twist.

“Do you… want me to _ eat _ it?” he asked, looking the thing over without touching it. “Thanks, bro, but… I’m not hungry,” he forced a laugh and threw the piece of meat back.

Josh frowned. What was up with the man? He was hungry, Josh could tell. Why would he deny it? Whatever reason it was, it was a bad reason, the man needed to eat. The Wendigo picked the meat up and gave it back to the man, growling quietly to make him eat it.

Chris hesitated, holding the meat. He eventually bit off a piece of it and forced himself to not spit it out. Disgusting, that’s the only way he could describe its taste. Yet, he managed to swallow it, not wanting to keep it in his mouth too long. He looked at Josh and saw his friend calmer and somewhat happier.

“Alright, if that’s what it takes…” Chris mumbled, taking another bite. After eating some, he got an idea. He ripped some meat off and threw it Josh’s way. “Let’s share, okay?” he offered.

Josh picked the meat up and eyed the man. What was that supposed to mean? He couldn’t quite understand what the words his new companion said mean, so he waited for visual instructions. The man smiled at him and took a bite out of his part of the meat. Did he want to share? That was all it could’ve meant! Hesitantly at first, but quickly gaining confidence, Josh dug his fangs into the meat.

Chris swallowed yet another bite but felt kind of happier knowing that he didn’t have to eat it all now, that he shared with Josh. His friend seemed to really enjoy the meat, but Chris knew it wasn’t his fault, it was all the Wendigo spirit. 

Chris shared some more of the meat while trying to eat as little as he could and also throwing the pieces closer each time to make Josh approach him. He wasn’t sure why, but he just wanted that to happen. Finally, one last piece was left. Chris reached out to Josh, offering it to him. The Wendigo slightly pushed his hand away, careful not to make him drop the food though. And so, Chris swallowed the piece. When he looked at Josh after that, he felt safe to admit that his frown was completely gone, replaced with a pleased expression. Seeing that made him smile despite the bad taste on his tongue. 

“Thanks for the meal, Josh,” Chris said quietly, still having the Wendigo’s attention.

Josh just stared at the place he presumed the man was in, not seeing any movement besides his mouth and hearing his voice. The words he was saying must’ve meant something, but he struggled to find it. He got distracted by the man reaching towards him with his hand open. Again? Why would he try doing that again? The last time he did, Josh knocked him out!

Before Josh shook the hand away, it reached his left cheek, the one that was torn up 6 months ago. It wasn’t painful, just surprising. Josh didn’t move away, for some reason he didn’t see it as a threat. It was even kind of… comforting? It was the first time someone was touching him since… since he remembered. And the touch was gentle, making him unwillingly rest his head on the hand. A long time ago some people were down in the mines and when Josh attacked them, they tried to use their hands to keep his head away and he didn’t like it, but this time he felt safe with it.

In the heat of the moment, Josh did something he didn’t recall doing ever before, he leaned on the man and wrapped his long hands around him. He still had no clue who the man was, but somehow feeling he was important. And that was enough for him to know. Enough to treat the man as a friend rather than as food or a threat.

Chris was surprised at first, surprised and scared by the sudden action of his friend. He at first thought that he was being attacked, but soon enough he realized that it was not a way of trapping him but a _hug._ With hesitation at first, he hugged Josh back. He was sure now, his friend was somewhere in there. God, how did he miss him all those 6 months! But it could only go better now.

“I really missed you, man,” Chris smiled after they were no longer hugging. In response, Josh made a sound that sounded more like purring than growling, yet still not quite. “I’ll take it as a ‘me too’, okay?” Chris said.

For the next couple of hours, Chris didn’t feel the pain from his leg, he was too focused on telling Josh about anything he could think of. He tried to tell about how they met and how their friendship grew through the years and also how his life looked like now. He skipped the part where Josh’s sisters died and didn’t mention the revenge-prank though, not wanting to make Josh feel hurt. There would be time to remind him.

All the time Josh was watching the man, listening to him talk. Word by word he was understanding more, eventually realizing he knew the meaning of whole sentences. If there was some weird word, he’d just try to understand it given the context or he tilted his head to the side, making the man explain the meaning in a more simple way. From what he understood, he and the man were ‘friends’ before, but something happened that they separated. Seemed weird, taking how much they liked each other, so he was slightly worried if it was something serious. Yet, nothing came to his mind, so he stayed hopeful.

And so there they were, in the mines, both hopeful. Because things would only get better now, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A couple of words of explanation. Josh is still looking kind of human, because the first time he ate human meat, it was not on purpose. This reasoning seems kind of stupid when you look closer, but that's what we'll just go with, okay?


	3. Memories hit

God knew how long it's been since Chris fell down into the mines, but it was long enough for the man to lose track of time. But who could blame him, really? He was far too busy talking with Josh to remember something as ridiculous as time. Why would he need to anyway? It's not like he was in a rush to somewhere, he didn't tell anyone where he was going or for how long before coming down to Blackwood. As he was talking, a thought flew through his mind.

“Hey, maybe let’s try to teach you how to talk?” Chris offered out of blue. Josh sat up from the laying position he was in, visibly interested. “Okay, so, to talk, you, uh…” he went quiet. How to teach someone how to talk? “Alright, try to say what I’m saying. Let’s start with a ‘Hi’. It’s not too hard I think? Hi,” Chris repeated slowly.

Josh tried to make a similar sound, but it came out as a growl. Ashamed, he went quiet, but he could see the man move his lips sightly, forming a smile.

“Close enough,” the blond-haired man laughed, giving Josh some more confidence. So the Wendigo tried a couple more times, yet still with no effect. It eventually growled in annoyment, giving up. "Okay, fair. We should be taking small steps forward, right?” he smiled, shifting to sit more comfortably.

His movement made his face clearer in Josh’s eyes and… something was wrong. Josh felt as if he saw the man before but in a different way. The man was mad. He had a frown on his face and was talking in an angry voice. Why did he change it? Why was he mad in the first place? Then another wave hit him, he saw another man right in front of him. A lot of people, actually, but this one man was standing out, angrier than others.

“Jessica IS FUCKING DEAD,” the angry male said.

“What?” someone asked.

“Did you hear me?! Jessica is dead… and YOU ARE GONNA FUCKING PAY YOU DICK!” he added, approaching Josh and hitting him with something. Everything went black.

What did it mean? The name Jessica sounded familiar. As well as all the people he saw back there. As he was staring off into nothing, no longer listening to the man with him, the realization hit him. If he wasn't wrong, and he was sure he wasn't, those were all people almost as close to him as the man. And Jessica? His consciousness was telling him something he tried to deny as much as he could, but there was no escape. He killed her. He didn't remember how, or why he did it, but he was now convinced he did. Another doubt came, what if he'd do the same thing to the man with him?

Chris could see that Josh was suddenly zoned out. As his state didn't change, he was getting more and more concerned about his friend. Eventually, he tried to reach out to him, but before he could, Josh suddenly got away at rapid speed. No longer than a second passed, and the Wendigo was already in the corner away from Chris. The male got up and, ignoring the pain in his leg, he tried to follow.

"Josh? What's up, man?" he called out, but his friend seemed to ignore him. "You're really doing good, you know?" he assured. Only then did he see Josh's expression.

He was frowning, looking down, keeping his mouth shut for the first time since they met again, hiding his fangs… Even with Chris by his side, he still moved his head away, trying to avoid his gaze. Chris could recognize that expression from years before, there was no doubting that Josh was ashamed of something, maybe even worried, so he sat down and studied his friend for a moment before speaking.

"I guess I said too much and you remembered something, huh?" he asked. No answer came. "Was it the prank you made this year?" he asked. Josh nodded slightly, recognizing the term. "Listen, no one is mad anymore. Thinking you were dead helped, kinda, but seriously, no one holds anything against you," Chris assured. It didn't seem to work, so he looked for a way it would. "Alright, listen. I'll tell you what others said. Ashley, for example, said that she is actually grateful for what you did, it helped her discover the real her better than anything. It really did! Matt said a million times already that he misses your jokes, your ideas… he wishes he could go back in time and appreciate them more. Damn, even Emily admitted that the world seems grayer without you, and you know how she is! And Mike, he said he never regretted anything more than not going after you to try to get you back. It eats him up till now, I think. And Jess-" Chris kept talking, but the name made Josh hiss and hide his face even more.

Chris was confused. Why was Josh reacting like that to Jessica's name? He didn't recall the two having a fight or anything, so why would he react to it like that? Only after a moment, it hit him, that Josh never made it home, never got rescued… and therefore, the last thing he had heard of Jess was that he killed her. He didn't know she was fine? Why didn't Chris think of it before?

"Josh, hey, Josh, look at me. Mike was wrong. Listen, after the prank? Everyone but you got home. Including Jess. Mike was really wrong, you didn't lay a finger on her! It was a wendigo that attacked her, but even after that, she's alive. And you know what she said? That she feels so bad that because of her you were accused of anything. And that you were left here alone, too," Chris explained. He could see that Josh doubted his crime now. He kept talking. "And Sam? Sam said that she would go through the whole night again and again if it meant getting you back. She also was ready to beat up strangers if they'd say something bad about you. I'm not even joking here, Josh." Chris smiled. "Everyone missed you, man. I know I for sure did," he added.

Josh looked at the man. If he was understanding the words right, he really didn't kill Jessica. And the others didn't hate him. The others, yeah, their names seemed familiar. Josh could already tell that they were the same people he saw in this weird flashback he had and that they really were important to him. They used to like him. And maybe they still did? They still remembered him, that's for sure. And so, the wendigo turned back to face the man.

“That’s right, Josh. We all missed you,” Chris assured.

The man was talking for a couple more hours before he got tired and, unknowingly, fell asleep by Josh’s side. Josh didn’t mind, but nor did he allow himself to relax. He didn’t even once close his eyes, keeping watch in case something was to attack them at night. Luckily, nothing did and no sound dared to disturb the two so far.

When Chris woke up during the night, he felt sick. He looked sick too. All the wounds from the day before kicking in, leaving him in unimaginable pain. He struggled to even sit up, but as soon as he realized his friend was watching him, he made himself do it. He didn’t want to worry Josh with it. Yet, he seemed kinda disturbed by his movement. He must’ve realized something was wrong. Chris sighed.

“Look, I don’t think my leg’s doing too good,” he explained. Josh tilted his head to the side, so Chris continued. “It looks kind of broken to me. But… it’s not like I have a hospital to go to right beside me,” he laughed quietly. “I’m just… not sure what to do with it,” he admitted eventually.

Josh tilted his head to the other side, like he was usually doing when he was listening, and moved closer to the man. He seemed troubled, which was kind of unsettling for the Wendigo. He definitely didn't like the man's voice, it sounded weak. He was also surprised by the fact that the man was up this early. This sudden situation was making him confused and slightly worried. The need to protect the man came kicking in again, so he snuck over closer. It was about the leg, wasn't it? That's what he heard at least. And so, to check it out, he gently touched it.

Chris couldn't hold in the sudden cry of pain when Josh's hand touched his leg. That was far beyond his ability to just clench his teeth and let it slip. He slightly curled up, hugging his leg in a way it wouldn't hurt that much and would be beyond Josh's hand reach. It's not that Chris didn't trust him, even though he was a Wendigo, but it seemed obvious that he didn't get that his touch was causing a lot of pain to Chris. Soon enough his cry turned into heavy breathing as he attempted to calm himself down and somewhat get ready to do anything soon.

Josh took his time processing the man's reaction. He must've been in pain. Now, the Wendigo's mind was trying to wrap itself around all the things that were said, shown, or mentioned. That being broken leg, hospital, not being able to walk properly, pain... Josh finally put the pieces together, eventually. With his mind all made up, he got up and caught his balance on two legs. Then he reapproached the man and carefully picked him up, making sure that the leg stayed untouched. The man was surprised, struggling at first but giving up pretty fast.

Chris unwillingly dug his fingers into Josh's clothes, afraid of slipping out of his friend's hand and hitting the ground. After a short moment, Josh started walking, picking up the pace as they were passing a corridor after a corridor, making a turn after turn, sometimes climbing a short wall, other times climbing down somewhere... and Chris could've sworn they were riding an elevator at some point, but he was far too tired to stay awake all the way. And the darkness, heaviness, and silence of the cave were easily putting him to sleep.

Yet, the fresh air woke him up as easily. He looked around confused while also inhaling it, appreciating it, when he finally realized they were out of mines and in the woods. His confusion quickly grew when he saw that Josh was still not slowing down. What was that, a walk with a pet on his hands? That's how Chris felt about his way of traveling with Josh far higher than ever before. The walk didn't end here, of course. The Wendigo seemed pretty determent to get Chris further into the forest. Or so it seemed.

Josh could feel that soon the sun would reappear on the sky. He knew he would have to be back to the mines soon. And so, he found a large enough tree and slowly helped the man to stand by it. Even without seeing his face he knew that he was surprised and confused. Yet soon enough he moved and picked something up from the ground, probably a stick to support himself. Leaving now would feel weird for Josh.

"Hey, uh, Josh... care to tell me what are we doing here?" Chris asked nervously.

Josh pointed at the direction of the man's leg and then, with a rather sad expression, to the forest on their left. It took the man a while to understand.

"You... want me to go?" he asked eventually. Josh looked down, showing that this decision wasn't easy. "Wha- No, dude, no way I'm just leaving you up here all alone again!" Chris protested. Josh hissed angrily. It wasn't what he wanted, but he knew that the man needed it. "Josh... I can't just walk away. How far will I walk anyway?" he tried to convince the Wendigo, but there was no changing Josh's mind.

Hurt by the thought of probably never seeing the man again, Josh slowly started leaving. He tuned away his voice and just walked through the forest. Not for long. Soon enough, a smaller hand grabbed his, stopping him. He turned and, to no surprise, could recognize the man. Why did he have to make that hard? They both knew he needed to go to get help.

"If that's really the goodbye..." Chris started, gasping for breath, tired because of following the Wendigo on one leg only. "Then I want you to know I'll miss you," he finished and hugged him. Josh awkwardly tried to return it, but he was too scared of hurting the man further to do it in any serious way. "Goodbye," Chris nodded quietly.

A sudden idea hit Josh. He couldn't talk, sure, but he easily recalled himself mimicking sounds to lure some animals in. Sounds other than growling. The statement 'goodbye' seemed important enough and he figured that would be a great way to finish this 'meeting'. And so, after analyzing the sound in his head a couple of times, he finally did it.

"Goodbye," he repeated. In the exact same voice as the man. As if what he said was recorded and played again, but in low quality. That mimicked low quality repeating was enough to make Chris tear up right where he was standing. If he somehow wasn't sure until now, he could be convinced since that very moment. Josh was somewhere in there, alive and human. Just hidden under all that Wendigo looks. Just waiting to be found.

And so, after a couple of silent tears were shed, Chris used the stick to support himself and no longer than 20 minutes later he was already having someone call for an ambulance for him, waiting to get his leg treated and for the pain to go away. Because then, he could just focus on what was important. On using that second chance he just received and getting Josh back. But now? No one could know yet.


	4. A fight

It's been 2 weeks since Josh helped the man leave the mines and get off the mountain and only afterward he realized nothing was said about coming back up there by him. And his hope was gone already, two weeks is a lot of time, especially if filled with waiting. And so Josh was sure now that Chris was not coming back. Yes, Chris. That was the name Josh put together with the man and his voice and that's the name his mind was now using while referring to him. And it was happening a lot, but the thought was now mostly "Maybe it's better that way? That Chris' not here and not coming back?".

In front of one of the entrances to the mines, there Chris stood. With his left leg in a cast and holding two crouches to support himself, he was ready to go down there and find his friend. It's been far too long before they let him out of the hospital, but just as he planned, he could focus on finding Josh and doing all he can to help him. And so, struggling to stand, but still confidently, he stepped forward, entering the mines. He didn't mind the darkness, he pulled out a flashlight and pushed through using his crouches.

"Josh? Josh?!" he called out, hoping that he won't be forced to walk for too long with his leg.

Yet, the walking lasted for over 20 minutes, forcing him to stop screaming. He was now calling out only once in a while, hoping that Josh would soon hear. And just as he was getting tired, he heard a distant Wendigo screech. His whole face lit up and he limped forward with his crouches, going as fast as possible. He came across a rather big hall to which a lot of corridors led. He looked around and heard screeching again, this time followed by movement in the darkness.

"Hi, Josh!" he called out, waving his arms around. The Wendigo leaped at him and his insides twisted as the flashlight's light reached it. _It wasn't Josh._

Chris tried to jump away, but the cast on his leg made him trip and fall to the ground, dropping both his crouches and the flashlight as he tried rolling away. The Wendigo missed him by a couple of feet, but soon enough was looking around. He didn't dare to move or make a sound, scolding himself mentally. He should've been more careful, he knew that now, but he was sure only Josh was down there!

The thing was looking for him for quite a while, but eventually turned around and left. Chris waited for a couple of seconds during which he didn't hear any sounds and then rolled over to get his crouches and the flashlight. It was a close call, he thought. He shined the light the way the monster left only for it to reappear, rushing towards him with clear intentions. Getting food. Panicked, he tried to fight back with the crouches. All he knew was that there was no way for him to run away with his leg broken and in a cast. The crouches somehow stopped the Wendigo, making it lean on them and try to grab Chris by his clothes. The man lied down and tried to crawl away but his cast got far too heavy for him.

He closed his eyes, not wanting to look at the thing that was trying to eat him alive, but he was sure that his crouches were soon to snap. He clenched his teeth and tried to think of any way of getting away, but there simply was none. A sudden screech made him flinch and his eyes shot open. That one came from behind, alerting him that another Wendigo was right behind him, getting closer. Soon, it leaped forward, yet didn't hit him. It crushed into the other one instead, making them both roll away. Chris didn't move even an inch since then. Mostly because of the cast, but fear and knowledge were also a thing in that not-so-conscious decision.

Slowly, his eyes grew more and more used to the light in the cave. He managed to make out parts of the Wendigos in front of them and could now tell they were fighting. Almost the same thing that happened back at the lodge right before it blew up, but there was a difference. One of them was surely Josh, it was obvious the second Chris saw his ripped clothes and messy hair, but he wasn't fighting because the thing in front of him was moving. He seemed not to intend to kill the enemy, only chase them away. Surely he could, but the humanity that was still left in him stopped him from killing one of his own kind.

The fight was getting really violent, the Wendigos were throwing each other around, pushing, scratching, biting... Chris wanted no part in that fight. Yet, from what he was seeing, Josh was not doing as good as expected. He figured he could try throwing something at the enemy and saw his flashlight not far from him. He was sure that the evil Wendigo was far too busy to see the little movement he was making, crawling away to reach it. Oh boy, how much wrong he was. One quick screech and the thing was no longer on top of Josh, already leaping at him. His insides twisted once again as he covered his face and closed his eyes. Quickly, a huge hand with sharp claws grabbed him by the collar and swiftly dragged him through the floor as he've heard crush right where he was standing. Not long after he was rolled on the ground, making it almost to the wall, as he opened his eyes and things became much clearer.

The claws didn't rip his throat out or anything simply because it was Josh who made it to him _just_ in time to drag him away from danger. And now there was something different in their fight. It looked as if Josh had snapped since Chris was put in danger once more, no longer holding back. And it was showing how strong he could actually be, he broke a couple of stones while throwing the enemy around only to finish it all by literally snapping the other Wendigo's spine. The thing writhed on the ground for a moment before letting out the most haunting screech of all and stopping moving. Soon enough a wendigo spirit appeared in the air, making a terrible sound and quickly vanished into the air.

Chris just sat there, shocked at what he'd seen. And it was a lot to wrap his mind around. Faster than he'd expect, Josh was inches from him, obviously expecting the movement to appear. The good Wendigo seemed troubled, even worried, probably because he could never be sure if he didn't hurt Chris while getting him away. It didn't take long for the blond-haired man to calm his nerves and shift to show Josh where he was.

"Hi, Josh. I'm back...?" he smiled awkwardly, as if he was excusing himself for causing trouble. The Wendigo let out the most exhausted sound he ever heard and rolled his eyes, yet smiling slightly in the end.

Josh was happy. For the first time since letting Chris go, he actually felt happy. He's not alone anymore! What he just had to do to the other Wendigo was terrible and he surely felt bad about hurting one of his kind, but it was for Chris. Putting a stranger's life over his friend's one is a hard choice, there's no hiding it, but at the same time, it seems kind of obvious. So even if he felt bad about what he had to do, it was all mixed up with not regretting a thing. Because in the end, he managed to overpower the enemy and, by that save his friend. So what was there to regret?

"My leg's doing far better, you know? I mean, I can't move it, but it doesn't hurt anymore!" Chris cheered, catching Josh's attention. His weak smile faded soon. "Thanks for... stepping in," he said, but his expression was getting sadder with each second. He soon hid his face in his hands, much to Josh's surprise. "Oh God, I... I could've died," he mumbled as that fact finally hits him. If it weren't for Josh, he'd be food by now!

Josh couldn't quite catch his words, but it didn't stop him from realizing the man got upset. He quickly put the small pieces together and figured that it must've had something to do with the other Wendigo's attack, so he decided on picking him up and getting him away from the fighting place. As gently as his sharp hands allowed him to, he picked him up and quickly realized that the leg that was before weirdly twisted was now heavier. Yet, he decided not to pay too much attention to that and tried to focus on simply getting Chris out of there.

He carried him over to a nearby hall, where he finally put him on the ground and watched the man curl up and stay there. Worried, he sat beside him and just waited in silence, giving the man his space and time. They weren't in a rush, so he could easily afford that. Yet eventually, he started to look for a way to cheer the man up a little. He simply didn't want him to be upset anymore, because what could be good about being upset? He finally remembered how happy it made Chris when he tried to speak. Maybe it'd help if he tried again? How hard can saying 'hi' be, anyway? So he tried, immediately catching Chris' attention.

"W- What are you doing?" he asked. Josh tried again, and Chris chuckled. "Are you choking on something?" he asked. The wendigo made an offended face before trying once more, still failing to form the word, but doing good enough for Chris to realize what he was doing. "Wait, are you trying to talk?" he asked.

Josh nodded eagerly before trying a couple more times. The thought of his friend being in there never failed to make Chris smile, no matter how bad things were getting. And so even now, just as death passed him by inches, he found himself smiling, sometimes even chuckling at the Wendigo's attempts to speak. It was far from real speech, sure, but he could just tell that Josh was doing his best. He always was, in Chris' mind.

"You're doing really good, just a little more training and you'll be a talker," Chris assured, visibly making Josh feel proud about his attempts. "Again, thanks for stepping in. You saved me," he smiled calmly, but a sudden rush of anxiety broke it. "I can't believe I was stupid enough to walk myself into a situation like that-" he was in the middle of scolding himself when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see Josh's worried expression. "I'm sorry," he blurted out. "That's just... not what I expected to happen when I come back. Luckily, you were there. I really don't want to imagine what would've happened if... you know what I mean," he explained, stopping himself from finishing the sentence.

Josh nodded, seeming to understand what Chris just told him. Until eventualy he suddenly rushed away. Chris was mostly surprised, but also mildly concerned. He wasn't sure if it could be a good thing, a Wendigo running off. But on the other hand, what bad could possibly happen? Being alone now, he looked himself over and tried to recognize his situation better. His crouches and flashlight were missing and Josh must've carried him somewhere else, so he wasn't sure where was the way out. At least he still had his bag, in which were some useful things alongside with a phone. Literally the cheapest and oldest one he could find, it was used and didn't have a touchscreen, but he was able to call with it, and that's all he needed. A long-lasting battery was also a perk, obviously.

Soon enough, Josh was back and he was carrying something. As soon as the smell hit Chris' nose he could already tell what the thing was. Yet another piece of meat. He sighed and used his T-Shirt to cover his mouth and nose, not wanting to smell that. Josh placed the raw meat by Chris. He pushed it away, not even being hungry.

"I think I'll pass," he mumbled. Josh frowned and pushed the meat back. "No," Chris also gave it back. "I'm not even hungry," he stated. Yet, the meat was there once more and Josh's frown was getting bigger. "Look, I have my own," Chris said, taking his bag off and pulling out a sandwich he brought. Other foods were canned. Now Josh's frown turned into curiosity as he tilted his head. "That's a sandwich. Wanna give it a try?" Chris proposed, ripping a piece away and offering it to Josh.

The Wendigo slowly made his way forward and gently took the piece from Chris' hand. After a moment of hesitation, he put it in his mouth. His face expression changed a lot since then, but he didn't seem to quite enjoy the cheese. Nor bread. Nor anything, really. Yet, he didn't spit it out, but swallowed it, despite it probably leaving a bad taste on his tongue. Chris smiled, seeing Josh eat something that wasn't raw meat was an improvement. Yet, he had a feeling that was a one-time thing for now.

"Want more?" he offered, holding out the sandwich. Josh shook his head, seemingly upset over the piece he just ate. "Your loss," Chris shrugged and put the sandwich back. He could see Josh's questioning look. "What? I said I wasn't hungry!" he explained. Silence fell upon the two for some time, until Chris remembered something. "Oh, right, Josh, by the way!" he started, immediately catching Josh's attention. "Here, look at that and tell me something," he pulled something out from his bag. "Do you recognize, let's say, Ash here?" he asked, holding the thing out.

In his hand, there was a picture that was pretty old, taken around a year ago, yet not much changed since then. The whole group was on it, from left it was Sam, Jessica, Matt, Josh, Chris, Ashley, Mike, and Em. Their faces were all smiley, not knowing what would come to them the next year. Chris wanted to know if Josh would recognize the others from the picture. He wanted to check how good his friend's memory was. Josh slowly took the picture from his hands and looked it over. He even ran his hand down it, not cutting it somehow. The whole time Chris had this hopeful look on his face. Josh was trying, so maybe something on the picture really seemed familiar to him? If he'd be able to recognize the others it'd be such an improvement in Chris' opinion. Yet, he was taking a lot of time.

"Do you recognize anyone you see on it?" he asked eventually. Josh looked at him with a frown. "What? It's a good question!" he explained. Josh seemed purely annoyed now. He eventually got closer to Chris and pushed him as slightly as he could, then pointed at him. Chris was sure Josh was _trying_ to explain something to him, but he couldn't really make it out. Until the realization came, making him feel stupid. "Oohhh, right!" he said, letting Josh know he thought he understood. "You can only see moving things, right?" he guessed and Josh nodded. "Right. So the picture's kind of useless. Right," Chris nodded. "Well, maybe other time I'll find a better way to show you. Now, how about I'll tell you about the day the picture was taken instead?" Chris offered and Josh seemed to be interested.

The story was longer than Chris thought it'd be, but it was obvious that Josh was happy to listen. And so when that one was done, he immediately started a new one. When he got hungry, he decided to finally eat his sandwich. Josh kind of followed his example, eating the meat he brought to the man before. Before anyone realized, it got colder and Chris' phone was showing 11 pm. The man got pretty tired already, so he soon ended up unknowingly falling asleep. He'd rather call it a nap, but it was at least an hour long. But who could blame him? A lot happened that day and even Josh figured he needed to rest after that.

He woke up and was about to sit up, but as his eyes adjusted to the darkness once more he could see, that Josh was not waiting for him to get up. No, he found his friend curled up by his side, seemingly asleep. Or at least with his eyes closed and not moving. He couldn't help but smile, he saw that as Josh showing his trust. He _trusted _Chris not to leave at night or try to hurt him. He thought that Chris was his friend. And just the thought of that, helped the man relax, forget about the bad things, and re-fall asleep.

When he woke up again, it was already morning and Josh was up, this time waiting in silence for Chris to finally sit up. He does, eventually running his hand through his hair and yawning, stretching his back a little. Sleeping on the stone floor is not the comfiest way of resting in the end. He smiled after fixing his glasses, seeing Josh happy that he's up. There was no telling how long was the Wendigo waiting for him to stop sleeping.

"Mornin', Josh," he greeted and his friend seemed to pay full attention to him again. "You slept well?" he asked jokingly, but didn't receive a clear answer. Yet, even this kind of one-sided conversation made him feel better. He tried to stand up only to be reminded of the cast on his leg. He sighed. "Is there a chance you'll help me go back to where we met yesterday? I left something there," Chris explained.

Josh was quick to get up and waited for Chris to do the same. And he tried, but without his crouches and nothing else to support himself, he couldn't. He laughed it off nervously and tried again, but Josh was quick to lose patience and pick him up, just like the last day. Chris was surprised only at first, he was kind of getting used to Josh doing that without a warning if they had to travel. So he simply dug his fingers into Josh's torn up clothes to save himself from a possible fall and let himself be carried away, hoping they were going the right way.

They were, as it turned out after 5 minutes of walking. Chris' head ached as he tried to remember Josh taking him away from there the day before, but there was nothing he was able to recall. Josh hesitantly put Chris on the ground, luckily close to the flashlight. It was still somehow on, so it was easy to find it. Chris managed to roll over to it and grab it, shaking it a bit before pointing it around. He first looked at Josh and was not even surprised when his friend showed no reaction to the light. Because in the end, light wasn't a moving thing. He turned the flashlight to shine on the ground, looking for his crouches. The light shined upon the dead wendigo's body instead, sending a shiver down his spine. He turned his head away and did his best not to shine the light that way anymore. Eventually, he found his crouches.

"There!" he cheered and tried to crawl that way. They didn't seem broken despite what happened to them the last day, which was unquestionably good news. Just as he was crawling, Josh grabbed him by the collar and pulled him up, much to his surprise. "Uh... Whatcha doing?" Chris laughed uncomfortably. Josh, as gently as he could, dragged Chris forward, helping him to travel quicker. Finally, the crouches were in his reach. "There, there, you can let go now," Chris announced and Josh followed the instruction, putting him back down.

He finally reached the crouches and, after checking them out for any signs of damage he used them to get up and support himself to stand. He managed to pull his phone out and check the time. It was bearly 7 am, not as late as he figured it'd be by the time he'd have his crouches back. He suddenly got an idea which he figured would be a really long shot and would require a lot of Josh's trust, but he was sure it'd be worth it. If it worked, obviously. So, nervously, he started.

"Hey, uh, Josh, I've got an idea you're not going to like," he announced. Josh tilted his head to the side, visibly confused. "So, uh... would you mind if... Alright, I'll make it straight. I need to go back to the city for a short while," he said and, as predicted, Josh frowned. Yet, Chris tried to convince him. "I promise you, I'll be back by the night, I just need to do something there. Seriously, I swear, I'll be right back. Before the sun sets," he assured.

Josh was confused and surprised. Why would Chris want to leave? What was so important suddenly? And Josh considered growling at him for a while, but he remembered that Chris came back once already, _without_ promising to do that. And now he was swearing he would and Josh had no reason to not trust him. Yet, this decision seemed hard. So he was frowning, looking down and thinking. Yet, he was pulled out from his thoughts when Chris sighed and nodded.

"Clear and understandable," the man stated. "Maybe some other time? In a couple of days? If you'll agree, obviously," he added. "So, where to now?" Chris asked.

Josh was now surprised even more by the man's decision. He must've taken the thinking as a rejection and didn't seem to even fight it. So now Josh was sure that the man still cared about what his opinion was. And that he could trust him. So in the end, he sighed and started leading the way, being followed by Chris. Now, that the man had his crouches, he was finally able to keep up with him. Yet, he stopped when they arrived where Josh was leading. The closest way out of the mines leading to the city which Josh knew about.

"What are we doing here?" Chris asked, visibly surprised. Josh simply pointed to the way out and smiled weakly. Chris returned the smile as he leaped over. "Thank you. I promise, I _swear_, I'll be back by the night," he assured, to which Josh nodded slightly, showing that he understood. 

And so, Chris left once more, yet this time sure he'd be back before the moon would show. He knew where to go and what to do, and more importantly, he knew where to go back to. And in his mind, things were getting better. Everything, or almost everything, going just like he wanted it to. And all he could do was to hope it'd stay that way as he pushed forward.


	5. The pictures and burns

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally managed to write that all out! And oh my God, at first I struggled to make it over 3k words, now it's almost 5k and it'd be even longer if I didn't decide to change the time of events a bit.

When Chris got to the town, he knew exactly what he had to do, yet he struggled to find the right things. Eventually, he managed to rent a printer in the local library that was luckily supplied with it. There, he printed the same photo he tried to show to Josh over and over and as big as it could be. He didn't really worry about the quality, the only thing stopping him was the size of paper and the printer. Finally, he figured he had enough copies, so he paid and left with all of them in his bag. Then, he came across a small shop and stepped in, getting what he thought would be useful. That included glue, scissors, a couple of boxes, tape, and a couple of sticks.

He then found his way to the city's park and sat under a tree, putting his crouches beside him and pulling everything he had out of his bag, making some preparations. Not long after he was already cutting out shapes of people from the picture over and over. He was slowly making them smaller and smaller and gluing them together in the meantime. He also had them glued to parts of boxes so they wouldn't wiggle when he needed them to be straight. He let it all dry in the sun next to the tree he sat under. He also glued the one last undamaged picture to the box as a whole. When the glued pictures dried he taped them to the sticks and then the sticks to the sticks to the sticks, creating a small mechanism. Now, all it took was pulling one stick to get all of them to move. Just like puppets, up and down, up and down. He could now proudly look at that and admire his work. He only hoped it'd work.

He showed up at the mountain faster than he expected, around 2 hours before the sun would set. He carefully walked into the mines using the entrance Josh showed him before. He took a couple of steps inside before finding himself a nice corner in which he could place his crouches and sit, not risking moving. He learned from the last time he came down there and almost died, he wasn't about to walk in just to be eaten alive if he won't be lucky enough. He inhaled deeply before calling out.

"Josh! I'm back already!" he yelled and it was quickly followed by a screech off in the mines. He didn't dare to move.

It didn't take long for a Wendigo to bolt running to him and almost having him flinch. It stopped near him, watching and listening. To Chris' indescribable joy and relief, he could recognize his friend this time. And so, he moved, giving off his position. 

"Hey, man," he greeted and Josh was immediately next to him, his mouth cracking something close to a smile. "I told you I'd be back," he reminded. 

Josh was happy with his earlier call. Chris was back and seemed glad to be, so he now believed that the thing he left for was not something he wanted to do, more like something he had to. And now that it was handled, they could both go deeper into the mines. Josh didn't like the sun that was peaking through the entrance. And so he got up and moved away a bit, waiting for Chris to follow. It took the man a moment to get up, but he eventually grabbed the things he was using to walk and leaped behind Josh, not saying anything.

Chris could tell they were walking for over 20 minutes already and after all the day of walking he was exhausted but didn't slow down even for a moment. He was doing his best to remember where he was and soon started recognizing the surroundings. They were getting back to the place where the other wendigo attacked the last day, which was not the greatest thing in the world if Chris was being honest. Yet when he shined his flashlight around after entering the hall, he failed to see its body. Since Josh was probably the only one up there, the man figured that he had something to do with it and decided to just ignore it. He felt like he really didn't want to know where the body was.

Soon enough Chris learned where did Josh take him. Right back to where they were sleeping, which seemed to be some sort of his lair. He sat down and put the crouches beside himself, happy to catch his breath after all this walking. Josh was immediately in front of him, watching patiently and apparently waiting for him to do something. When Chris figured he was ready, he pulled off his bag and took out the improved photo. Improved might not be the best way to call it, but he hoped what he did would make it somewhat better.

"Alright, so yesterday I tried to show you a photo, right?" he asked, breaking the silence. Josh was now paying full attention already. "But you see only moving things, if I'm not wrong," he said. "And SO, I've made this. Hope it works," he finished and pulled on the stick, making the human figures on the picture bounce up and down. Josh frowned at him, confused. "Look, man, I know it looks stupid, but can you see anything now? They're 3D and stuff, so I figured if I moved them, it'd be enough. Do you?" Chris asked. Yes, this was the whole idea. Josh started moving around, watching the bouncing figures from many angles. He eventually settled on one and his face seemed to lit up, even though he also had a confused frown on it. This gave Chris enough hope to go on. "Do you recognize anyone? Let's say... Sam? Can you point at Sam?" he asked.

Josh's bony finger slowly moved, pointing right where Sam was standing in the picture. He seemed to be certain about his choice. And Chris smiled, almost laughing in happiness.

"Y- yeah, that's right! That's her! You're- right!" he gasped, not really believing his luck. Josh was really there. He decided to push his luck a bit further. "And Ashley?" he asked and, after some hesitation, Josh picked right again. "Yeah! And- And Matt? Do you see Matt in the picture?" he asked and once more, Josh picked correctly. "Mike maybe? ...That's right! And Jess? ...Exactly! Alright, do you see Em? ...That's her!" Chris said, and Josh was getting everything right. With some hesitation, sure, but not a mistake even. He wanted to ask about himself, but decided to be sneaky about it. "Do you see Chris?" he asked. Genious, truly. Josh frowned and, after watching him for a moment, he pointed at him. Somehow, it meant something to him. Josh knew his name. The cracked up smile he was wearing got wider as he nodded slowly. "And in the picture?" he asked only to be reassured about everything. His old self was pointed out almost immediately. Now only one unpointed person in the picture stayed. "And can you... find yourself in the picture?" Chris asked.

This time, Josh was really hesitant. He began to change the angles, tilting his head to the sides, frowning, even taking the picture for a moment while Chris struggled to keep pulling the stick. Eventually, Josh gave the picture back, kind of disappointed. He shook his hand and Chris' smile faded quite a bit. He gave Josh a moment longer, but his friend wasn't that interested in looking at it again. Eventually, the man sighed.

"Nothing? It's alright, you did amazing anyway. But look, you're right here. In the middle, next to me. And Sam's on the left, on your other side. That's you," Chris explained, pointing at Josh in the picture, moving it a bit again. He then glanced up to see the most confused face he had ever seen.

Josh was thinking really hard, but no matter how much he tried, he still couldn't place it all in his mind. Who Chris pointed at seemed kind of unfamiliar and, what was more important, human. They didn't look alike at all. Well, maybe their hairstyle matched a bit. But again, the person was human, not like him. When he saw his reflection in water once or twice he already learned some futures about himself, but the person on the picture had none. He was really trying to get it all, but it just made no sense to him. Did he ever look like that? Like a human? It seemed surreal, it couldn't be true. But he couldn't think of a reason why would Chris tell him that, then. And so there he was, just frowning in confusion.

"Hey, man, you okay? You're doing great, really," Chris promised. Josh stayed frozen for a moment before finally nodding. Chris decided to change the topic for a second when a sudden realization came to him. "Aren't you getting cold? It's really cold down here," he pointed out, already pulling off his hoodie. He had two on, so he didn't see a reason not to. "Here, put that on. It might be a bit small for you, but you should at least try," he demanded. Josh took the garment but just held it, unsure what to do with it. "Alright, I'll help you. Pick your arms up," Chris sighed, taking it back only to help his friend put it on.

A moment later Josh already had the hoodie on, despite how ridiculous it looked on him. Chris was usually the taller one out of the two and if for whatever reason Josh had to wear his clothes, he would usually sink in them, but now? It was a miracle that the hoodie was still in one piece, it was pretty obviously inches from ripping. The fact that it was put over his other clothes was definitively not helping here, stretching it even more. And so while on one hand, it looked upsetting and terrible, on the other one it was pretty funny to see him in that clothing. And to that look, one more thing was adding up - it made Josh look a little bit more human. Maybe not enough to pass in a crowd, but obviously enough to throw some more faith at Chris.

"You're doing great," Chris said again, smiling warmly and making Josh feel slightly more comfortable in his new garment. Still, he was afraid of ripping the whole thing apart by moving to fast. "Actually, this all kind of reminds me of this movie. We watched it once I think, but I don't think you remember it clearly. Anyway, it all starts with this dude named Aaron," Chris started, actually wanting to describe the whole movie. Josh sat down and made himself comfortable, still caring about the hoodie.

***

Chris didn't really recall falling asleep, but he was sure he just woke up on the rough ground with his whole body sore. He tried to stretch a bit before finally sitting up and automatically reaching for his phone. It wasn't there, obviously, but he managed to find his bag and his "new" phone in it. The screen said it was a couple of minutes before 6 AM, meaning he slept through the night. He reached for his flashlight only to find it with no more power. It took him somewhere around 5 minutes to find his back up batteries in his bag and change them. Yet, being able to see was worth it, he thought. Well, he kind of regretted that statement when he saw that _Josh wasn't there_. It took him seconds to freak out.

"Josh? Josh?!" he called out, looking around and shining the light every possible way. Yet, no answer came. "Dude, that's not funny! Come out! Josh?!" he kept calling out as he looked for his crouches. With them, he was able to get up and realize that he didn't even know where to go to look first. He knew that the worst thing he could possibly do now was getting lost in the mines but the thought of just waiting while Josh was god-knows-where didn't sit right with him. 

Luckily enough, before he decided to do anything stupid, his light shined upon a fast-approaching shape that was soon revealed to be his friend. Chris quickly realized he was also carrying something with him, presumably some meat. _Again_. Yet, Chris felt relieved to know that Josh was as okay as he was last night. And so, he just sighed, waiting for him to finally come out of the small corridor and into the hall he was in. He wasn't really paying attention to not moving, so he was spotted almost immediately. Without playing around, Josh reached over to him, offering what appeared to be a rabbit. Chris took a second to not react too harshly.

"No, thanks, I still have my own food," he mumbled. Josh seemed to understand since he took the thing away from Chris' face. The man limped over to his bag and pulled out really anything he had to eat. His luck let it be some canned corn. He sighed. "You want to give those a try?" he asked and Josh moved over, gently taking the can and examining it. He then shook his head and gave it back. "Alright, have it your way, buddy," Chris mumbled.

While the two of them were eating, Chris was thinking. He was now seeing the patterns that the stranger used to point out. Mostly the fact that the wendigos leave the cave only at night and avoid sunshine at any cost. He couldn't get why, though. He didn't think it had anything to do with real danger like fire. Sun could be a ball of fire, but it's surely far enough for him to be safe outside at day. He figured that a good step would be at least trying to get Josh to come out at this time of the day. And so, after he finished eating, he spoke up.

"Hey dude, I'm realizing you really hate sun, huh?" he started and quickly got Josh's attention. "I mean, you only go out at night. Is the sun, like, dangerous for you?" he asked and Josh didn't even shake or nod his head. He slightly shrugged and Chris couldn't even bet if it wasn't just changing position. "You're not sure, huh? So that's a natural thing? If you don't know, why won't we just come outside now and check? If something goes wrong, we can always return, can't we?" Chris offered. Josh didn't seem too eager with the idea, but nor did he look like he was against it. Chris smiled and stood back up, supporting himself with his crouches. Or one, at least, leaving the other one on the ground. Josh did the same thing, moving slightly closer. Without hesitation, Chris grabbed Josh's hand to pull him behind himself, but it turned out his wendigo hands were far too big to do that, so he just ended up grabbing one of his friend's fingers before using his crouch to move forward for a bit further than 5 feet. Then, he stopped, sighing. "Yeah, I don't know the way out. Could you?" he smiled awkwardly and earned himself an eye roll from Josh. It ended with a small smile though, so Chris was sure he wasn't _that _annoying yet.

He ended up grabbing the other crouch so he could be sure he wouldn't struggle to walk before following Josh. The Wendigo wasn't convinced about the idea, but decided to go right for the exit anyway. This time he picked the other way out, the one that would lead to the top of the mountain. That's where he was usually hunting and that's the area he was most familiar with. They had to walk for quite a bit, but they both could already feel that the air was less thick and far more fresh than what they were breathing with under ground. It was also getting warmer, it was finally possible to feel that it was summer and not fall yet. Despite Josh leading the way, somehow Chris ended up being the first one to go outside. Fresh air hit him and he gladly inhaled it, letting the Sun shine on his face. Only then he turned around and smiled at Josh to reassure him, even though he knew that this small movement probably went past him.

"Come on, it's okay I think," he said and hesitantly, Josh stepped forward, ending up in the sun. Yet, it didn't hurt him by any meaning. Surprised, he unknowingly let his jaw drop a bit, exposing his teeth. He looked around, trying to catch any movement. Chris smiled brightly. "There we go! See? It's not so bad!" he laughed. Josh felt far more confident now, so he stepped forward even more, catching up to Chris. "As you probably already realized, it's warmer during the day. It's probably gonna get even warmer as time passes, so you can take the hoodie off, if you'd like. It looks amazing on you though, dude," Chris joked but Josh seemed eager about the idea of no longer being restrained by the fear of ripping the thing into pieces.

And so there they were, a bizarre-looking duo. A rather tall boy in at least a layer too much on himself with his even taller wendigo friend. They were simply walking through the forest, both really happy with the walk. Chris was happy because in his mind, having Josh outside and in sunlight was a good sign, again giving him more hope to hold onto if for whatever reason he'd doubt that his friend was saveable, while Josh was happy simply because Chris seemed happy. The day was really sunny and the blond man was really grateful that he got to spent it outside with Josh and not down in the mines, in complete darkness and coldness. Suddenly, a rather big squirrel ran past them. At first, Chris didn't mind, but then he realized that Josh didn't quite share his look on the topic. His friend frowned, curled up and showed off his sharp teeth right before starting to chase the animal like a dog of some sort.

"No, Josh! Wait!" Chris called out, but the Wendigo was too caught up in the chase already. Without second-guessing it, Chris ran after him. Or at least tried, but having to use the crouches was not helping him with it. He managed to catch up rather quickly, because Josh eventually gave up on chasing the animal and waited, but he wasn't even sure if it was good. It would be, but Josh stopped right in front of the burnt down lodge. Chris could feel how heavy the atmosphere got out of nowhere. "Hey, buddy..." he started and Josh waited a moment before finally paying him attention. "Yeah, that's... that's not the best thing we could've come across. Maybe we should just go...?" he asked, unsure. Josh had this dull expression on his face and it was getting hard to watch. He nodded hesitantly and then slowly followed Chris. They went a bit further from the building before finding some empty space that wouldn't hopefully have any bad memories attached to it. There, they decided to just sit down.

Chris didn't saw the lodge before. When he came up to the mountain, he purposely wanted to avoid it. _Maybe _see it on his way back, but probably not. And now he was sure that he was guessing how it looked correctly. Since the rescue group focused more on getting the hurt 'kids' into the helicopter rather than putting out a fire that was not even that dangerous to the forest with all the snow lying around, the building was practically destroyed. The grass around it was, too, burned up, but the fire didn't reach the trees at least. Still, it was sad to even watch it, especially since he knew what happened in that house before. Many good and bad memories got buried there and it really wasn't the best thing to see. But Chris knew that he wasn't a usual visitor here, so he could only imagine how it felt for Josh, even with some memories and his sight still missing. He got snapped out from his thoughts by sudden hissing.

"Josh? What's wrong?" he asked, immediately concerned after seeing the Wendigo grab its arms, bend over and hiss in what seemed to be pain. "Dude, what's going on?" he asked again, but still nothing came. When hissing didn't stop, Chris started to desperately look for an answer himself. Maybe it was the sun? It would be logical in the end, because Josh never acted like that around him before. And so, not thinking much, he took his hoodie off and threw it over Josh, covering him the best he could. The hissing got louder for a second, making Chris freak out even more, before going quiet. Josh's unsure and sore face peeked from under the hoodie. Chris tried to think fast. "I think there's a cabin around here. Not burned. No sun in there. We can go there to hide, sounds good?" he asked and Josh slowly nodded.

They tried to go as fast as Chris' crouches, Josh's unexplained pain, and the rocky road let them, but it still took them quite a bit to find their way to the 'guest cabin'. Thank God that Washingtons actually bothered to put up signs leading the way to it, otherwise they'd probably get lost at least 3 times already. Chris knew that there was a shelter closer than the cabin, the shed, but he also knew that if Josh didn't like seeing the lodge, he surely _would _mind seeing the other place that played an important part half a year earlier. But the cabin? It was only used to lure away Mike and Jess so they wouldn't get in the way. What happened next was different, but it still seemed like the best shot. Finally, they managed to find it.

It was rather small and probably all wooden. The first thing out of place that Chris noticed was glass shred all over the stairs. Glass that was supposed to be in the door window, obviously. He told Josh to mind his step before somehow getting up the stairs and getting the door open. For some reason, it wasn't even locked, so that spared them a lot of trouble. He held the door open for his friend and closed it behind them. Josh managed to find his way to the couch that stood in the middle of the room as Chris closed the blinds only to find out that they were still letting some sun in. He quickly went to the bedroom and got the sheets off the bed before using them to cover the windows more tightly, blocking all the sun. It immediately got darker. Finally, he walked over to Josh.

"Do you feel better?" he asked. Josh nodded slightly, so Chris decided to take the hoodie off of him. When he pulled it off, his friend hissed once more and curled his arms up. He soon enough stopped, but as he tried to relax his shoulders, he made the sound again. "Hold up, stop moving, let me see your back. Does it hurt?" he asked and Josh nodded slowly, kind of ashamed of it. Josh's clothes had a lot of cuts on them and Chris thought he saw something under them. And so, he slightly lifted it up. Josh didn't hiss this time, but Chris finally started to realize why was he in pain. His whole back was almost literally red. It even took him a while to understand why was it this color. "Oh, damn. You got yourself huge sunburns right there," he mumbled. He had no idea that Josh's skin would be so sensitive, but he kind of felt bad about dragging him outside. "Stay here, I'll check if there's something useful here," he said and limped further into the house.

Josh moved himself onto the couch, where he curled up with his legs under a pretty weird angle and his shoulders exposed. Every movement was at least slightly painful for him and honestly, more than anything he was just annoyed by it. It wasn't as much pain as he'd need to actually suffer, but it was like a shadow, following him around. With a frown, he was thinking. He tried to recall what Chris said to him while they were going outside. "It's not so bad", huh? Yeah, sure it's not, it's just literal burns on his back now! Finally, his eyes caught movement informing him that his friend returned.

"There's no running water, even! The whole place's shut down," the man mumbled. Josh actually put himself through the effort of mimicking what he heard the man say. Since it wasn't so recently, it sounded _very _unclear and deformed, but he was sure it'd give the message.

"_It's not so bad_," he managed to repeat. Chris was shocked upon hearing his own voice without using his mouth, but he quickly realized the source. 

"Look, I'm really sorry dude. I didn't think you'd get burned this easily," Chris sighed and Josh nodded, understanding enough to know that it wasn't intended to get him those 'sunburns'. "Hey, I've got an idea. You'll stay here for a second and I'll go outside for just a bit. There's a stream nearby and I'm pretty sure that if we washed your burns a little, it could help," Chris offered. Again, Josh nodded, but this time he was uncertain and paying more attention. Chris got up and started to think how to actually transport the water before he got hit by something. It took him quite a moment to realize that it was his hoodie, thrown at him by Josh. Before he got to even ask why, his uncovered arms were pointed out. Chris couldn't help but chuckle. "What? Afraid I'll get burned myself? Don't worry, I don't think I will. BUT... this might come in handy. So, thanks," he smiled before adjusting his grip on the crouches and limping towards the door. "I'll be right back, sit tight," he said and opened the door for himself.

It didn't take Chris long to find the stream and it wasn't even that hard to put the hoodie into the cool water and make sure it would be as wet as it could. Just as he was about to head back, he heard his 'new' phone ring. He pulled it out and wasn't so eager on talking up until he saw the number. Then, he picked up immediately.

"Finally!" the voice on the other side rang. "I thought you'd never pick up!"

"Sorry, you called before? I must've lost the signal," Chris answered.

"Lost the signal? Come on, seriously? ...Hold on. Please, please, _please_, don't tell me you're already there," the person said and hearing how desperate they sounded like made Chris felt a little bad.

"...I might be...?" he mumbled.

"Oh my God, Chris!" the person hissed.

"Look, I'm fine, okay? Nothing's going on," he assured. The person that called him sighed deeply.

"I should get there tomorrow," they said.

"Wait, really? I thought you said you'll need at least a week more?" Chris doubted.

"I guess I can try and pull that off. What I _can't_ do is leave you up there alone," the person said and Chris almost said he wasn't exactly alone, but he figured it wasn't the best response. "I should be there around 5:30 pm? Maybe 6? It all depends on the weather," they added.

"That'd be extremely great. So, uh, see you around I guess?" Chris finished.

"Yeah. But _please_, be careful," the person said and, probably not wanting to hear him saying anything close to disagreeing to that, hung up. Chris nodded and hid his phone in his pocket. Things weren't going as he thought they would, but still, it was somehow all holding together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, Josh got sunburned and Chris' getting someone to come, huh? Any guesses on who that might be?


End file.
